This invention relates generally to non-binary radix adders and more specifically, to binary coded decimal (BCD) radix adders.
In the business environment, computers are used to perform data processing on a variety of repetitious tasks involving large amounts of numerical information. The processing is predominantly input/output intensive in contrast to number-crunching. For example, doing transactional data processing, such as in airline reservation or banking systems, the processing is predominantly information manipulation and recording. Operations using a computer in these applications must occur virtually instantaneously with no errors. In processing business transactions, such as payroll, the predominant numerical information processed is decimal; whereas in scientific and engineering processing, where number-crunching is prevalent, data is best handled in binary form. However, computer hardware as known in the prior art performs mathematical computations in binary instead of decimal notation and is optimized for high speed binary computations. For decimal digits to be use on such computer hardware, the decimal digits are represented internally to the computer as binary coded decimal (BCD) in which four bits are used to represent each decimal digit with a weighted 8-4-2-1 code. When these BCD digits are to be processed, the most common approach involves converting the BCD digits into binary, the desired function is performed, and the binary is converted back to BCD. These "translations" reduce the efficiency and performance of the computer system when performing data processing.
To overcome the necessity of translating the BCD to decimal and back again, the arithmetic portion of the computer, referred to as the arithmetic logic unit (ALU), is adapted to perform operations on BCD data as well as binary data. One approach involves having separate binary and BCD Arithmetic Units (AU). Binary ALUs are well known in the art and will not be discussed here. Exemplary BCD adders are described in chapter five of Digital Computer Airthmetic, by J. J. F. Cavanagh, 1984. On page 308 of said text, a BCD adder is described which includes logic for correcting intermediate sums which exceed nine. However, this technique uses ripple carry, i.e., for an N digit adder, there are N decimal adder stages with the carry out of one stage coupling to the carry in of a succeeding stage. Propagations of the carry from stage to stage slows down the operation of the adder which, for a large number of stages, makes this approach too slow for high-speed computation. An improvement in speed over the ripple carry approach discussed above is disclosed on pp. 310-312 of the above text. Here, correction is unconditionally performed on the intermediate sum and the uncorrected or corrected intermediate sum is selectively coupled to an output as the true BCD sum. Although this approach is faster than the ripple carry approach, additional hardware is needed. Further, the hardware in the above BCD adders does not lend themselves for operation binary data; little hardware can be shared between a binary ALU and a BCD ALU using these techniques.
Another approach which combines binary and BCD ALU circuitry is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,263,660 issued to J. E. Prioste. This patent discloses an ALU which implements a parallel BCD addition technique described by M. S. Schmookler and A. Weinberger in "High Speed Decimal Addition," IEEE Transactions on Computers, PP. 862-865, Vol. C-20, No. 8, August 1971. However, this technique for BCD addition is optimal for emitter-coupled logic (ECL) (as utilized in the above U.S. patent) and does not lend itself for use in dynamic complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry since dynamic CMOS does not allow intermediate inverted outputs exclusive-or, and exclusive-nor. Integrating the technique disclosed by Schmookler, et al, in CMOS with a binary ALU would impede the performance of the binary ALU by slowing it down.